Roadell Hickman/The Plain DealerKellen Winslow's Browns teammates showed sympathy for their currently suspended friend on Wednesday, but also said they didn't share his concern about staph infections among fellow players.

Do the Browns have a major problem with staph infection in their headquarters facility, as tight end Kellen Winslow claimed?

And do players feel muzzled about speaking their mind in the wake of Winslow's one-game suspension handed down by General Manager Phil Savage on Tuesday?

These questions were posed to players the day after Winslow was docked a game check -- in his case, $235,294 -- for saying the club purposely concealed his staph infection from teammates.

Through his representation, Winslow formally notified the NFL Players Association on Wednesday of his appeal of the suspension.

"It's a grievance proceeding under the CBA, and it's expedited, meaning it will be decided by the arbitrator prior to Sunday," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an email response.

The players union will represent Winslow and the NFL Management Council will represent the Browns in a grievance proceeding, Aiello said.

Winslow could recoup the game check withheld by the team if he won. It doesn't guarantee he would play Sunday in Jacksonville. The team could make him inactive for the game.

Drew Rosenhaus, Winslow's usually ubiquitous agent, has not returned messages to comment.

Roadell Hickman/The Plain DealerSaid Browns players union representative Darnell Dinkins on Winslow's situation: "As a grown man, if you make your bed, you have to lay in it. I'm not Kellen Winslow. I don't really understand what's going on with him and the team. I'm sure he felt he did what he needed to do."

"It's unfortunate," tight end Darnell Dinkins, the team union representative, said of Winslow's suspension. "You want all your best players out there to play. It's a matter of winning. The way you win is by having the best players on the field."

Kicker Phil Dawson, one of the Browns' six team captains, said, "The organization's made a decision. As a player and captain on this team, you respect what the organization does and just go about your business. Everyone's going to feel differently about things."

Running back Jamal Lewis said, "It's the organization's decision and we can't worry about it. We have to just pull together and play as a team, just not let that be a distraction to us, which I don't think it will."

In his written statement after the suspension, Winslow said he spoke out because "there is a health issue that needs to be addressed further," which speaks to seven player cases of staph since 2004.

But no player interviewed on Wednesday supported Winslow on that point.

"I'm not worried about staph. I've never had staph. I'm not worried about that," said linebacker Andra Davis, another team captain.

"Guys have been made aware of how to help prevent [staph]," Dawson said. "We had a meeting in training camp where we went over everything we can do as individuals. The organization has done everything we could ask them to do. So I think the locker room's good with it."

Dinkins also alluded to the organization summit on staph infections in training camp and said, "At the end of the day, if you want to know something, it's up to you to pick up a book or get to the right people and find out more about it."

Plain Dealer file photoKicker and co-captain Phil Dawson: "As a player and captain on this team, you respect what the organization does and just go about your business."

The timing of Winslow's previously undisclosed illness adds a different wrinkle to the situation.

The Browns were coming off their bye weekend when Winslow and the rest of the team reported on Monday, Oct. 6. They were off the next day. On Wednesday, Oct. 8, Winslow left the team facility after reportedly feeling ill. He was hospitalized the next three days.

Winslow said the team urged him not to disclose the illness as staph and he initially agreed. Winslow also said he felt "like a piece of meat." Savage termed Winslow's comments "unwarrated, inappropriate, and unnecessarily disparaging to our organization."

Coach Romeo Crennel said he broke the news of the suspension to the team Wednesday morning. He indicated there was no outrage expressed over the fact a player was fined heavily for speaking his mind.

"They can talk to me at any time, to anybody in the organization," Crennel said. "The only thing I've talked to them about is not airing grievances to the media. I don't think that does anybody any good."

Receiver and return specialist Josh Cribbs, also a team captain, said teammates talked to Winslow after he made his comments.

"His head is in the right place now," Cribbs said. "Kellen, he always says what he feels. He speaks his mind. He has a lot of emotion and he brings that same emotion to the game. So we can't fault him for that. But we have advised him to keep it among the team. He understands that."

Cribbs continued, "In the NFL, they own us [players]. We're products to the NFL. We're bound by certain rules to keep the integrity of the NFL and the team."

Asked if Savage's suspension would have a chilling effect on players speaking out, Dinkins said, "No, I don't think so. Everybody knows we're all grown men in here. As a grown man, if you make your bed, you have to lay in it. I'm not Kellen Winslow. I don't really understand what's going on with him and the team. I'm sure he felt he did what he needed to do."

Added Dawson, "Everyone's going to process this differently. I think we've got a good group of guys in this locker room that's focused on getting this [season] turned around. I'm not worried there's going to be a backlash or anything. I don't sense it."

Defensive lineman Shaun Smith, one of the most talkative players on the team, said, "I say what I want to say around here. You can speak how you feel, but you've got to be smart ... and deal with the consequences that come with it."

In his written statement, Winslow said he still hopes to be a Brown "for a very long time."

The question is whether relations between Winslow and the Browns, specifically Savage, are reparable.

"Kellen is not a bad kid," Crennel said. "And I have a pretty decent relationship with Kellen. Me personally, I feel they're reparable and we'll go forward."

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.